Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Advances in Power System Control, Operation and Management, AF’SCOM ZOOO, Hong

Kong, October ZOOO.

REMOTE SENSING OF OVERHEAD LINE CONDUCTOR TEMPERATURE USING AN

INFRA-RED SENSOR

P. J. Moore & D. B. Grace

Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the design and construction of a sensor for the remote temperature measurement of 400kV overhead
conductors using an infrared detector. Overhead line conductor sag increases with operating temperature; if a conductor is
allowed to operate at an elevated temperature then the minimum safety clearance of the conductor may be exceeded. An
additional concern is annealing of the conductor strands. Greater utilisation of a line may be achieved using a dynamic
rating algorithm for which conductor temperature measurement is important. The paper shows experimental results for the
sensor when applied to a conductor simulated using a heated copper rod. The sensor was capable of measuring at a distance
of up to 6 m. It is proposed that the sensor is mounted on a transmission tower at the same height as the lowest conductor.
Further work required to improve the sensor is discussed.

conductor. However the wind magnitude can vary

1. INTRODUCTION considerably due to wind turbulence caused by close
objects such as trees or buildings, or sheltering caused by
Safety of overhead lines hills. Thus the conductor temperature inevitably varies
Under normal operating conditions the conductor along the circuit route; it may be possible to identify
temperature of an overhead line will vary. This can have critical positions where the temperature rise is expected
two important consequences: firstly that the sag of the to be highest. có thể xác định các vị trí quan trọng nơi
conductor varies, and secondly that the strands of the nhiệt độ tăng dự kiến là cao nhất.
conductor become annealed. The sag of the conductor is Sag measurements Đo độ võng của dây
highly important since increases in sag may lead to safety No direct measurement of sag is commercially available
clearances being breached, particularly at mid-span. Sag at present, however, sag can be calculated using a
is mainly an issue with steel cored conductors that measurement of either conductor temperature or tension.
constitute the majority of overhead line conductors in The relationship between sag and conductor temperature
current operational service. By comparison, annealing is is almost linear [2]. For most practical purposes sag is
more important to all-aluminium conductors which have inversely proportional to tension; a more accurate
to withstand both the- ohmic heating effects and relationship can be derived from the catenary equations.
mechanical tension. Annealing can cause loss of strength,
strand fracture and, ultimately, downed or broken Direct conductor temperature measurements are not
conductors. Annealing: ủ especially popular with the electricity supply industry
due to the requirement of placing a probe in contact with
The main factors contributing to changes in conductor the conductor. Since the probe must withstand the phase
temperature are as follows [ 11: to earth voltage, such measurement systems are
Heat input by ohmic losses (12R) - varies according consequently expensive [3]. Additionally, these
to circuit loading measurements are only ‘spot’ measurements, not
0 Solar heat input - affected by solar duration and reflecting the worst case sag, unless made at critical
emissivity of the conductor surface. positions where the temperature rise is known to be high.
0 Heat loss by radiation - affected by conductor
temperature, diameter and emissivity Tension monitors are in use, particularly in the USA [4].
Heat loss by convection - affected by conductor The tension is monitored using a load cell connected at
temperature rise, diameter, wind speed and direction the end of a line section. Unlike a spot temperature
measurement, the tension monitor gives an average
Most of these factors vary along the circuit route, for measurement along the line section thus making siting of
example, wind direction will change if the line is not the equipment easier. Installation of the tension monitor
entirely straight. The maximum cooling effect of the requires a line outage and specialised tensioning
wind occurs when the direction is perpendicular to the equipment.

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Dynamic ratings
Conventionally, overhead lines are rated statically by Measurements below 30°C are unnecessary since an
ensuring, through the use of thermal models, that critical unenergised conductor on a hot summer day in the UK
components do not exceed manufacturer's stated regularly approaches this temperature due to solar
exposure limits. The rating is normally based on worst radiation alone. Taking this into account, and allowing
case assumptions of heat transfer, circuit loading and for monitoring under emergency conditions, the sensor
weather conditions along the circuit. Such ratings are was designed to work over the temperature range of 30°C
termed steady-state or normal meaning that no time limit to 150°C.
applies. Altematively the rating can be time dependant
ranging from very short time periods, e.g. 15 minutes in
the case of an emergency rating, to seasonal ratings 3. HARDWARE DESIGN
taking account of long-term changes in weather
conditions such as summer and winter ratings. Static Infrared Detector
ratings are conservative in nature and inevitably lead to All objects emit electromagnetic radiation. The radiation
lines being unnecessarily thermally constrained under emission spectrum is dependent on the temperature and
some conditions. emissivity of the object; the distribution of radiation can
be calculated using Planck's radiation law. An object
Dynamic ratings are based on a prediction of conductor that emits radiation perfectly is called a black body in
temperature which is dependent largely on weather recognition of the fact that a black body will perfectly
forecasts along the circuit route. Dynamic ratings allow a absorb incident radiation. A black body can be regarded
fuller utilisation of thermal capacity of the line. Due to as representing the theoretical maximum value of
the extensive usage of steel cored aluminium conductors, radiation for a given temperature [6]. To relate object
dynamic ratings are related to the sag clearance at the temperature and radiation, Wien's displacement law can
highest allowable conductor temperature. Typical be used to find the peak of the radiation distribution.
dynamic ratings are 24 hour continuous rating, 1 to 24 Using the temperature range of 30°C to 150°C described
hour long-time emergency rating or 1 to 60 minute short- earlier, the radiation peaks are calculated as 9.9pm and
time-emergency rating. By comparison, the time constant 6.9pm respectively, thus the sensor should be responsive
of an overhead conductor is typically 10 minutes [l]. over this range. The sensor uses a pyroelectric detector
Dynamic ratings can utilise inexpensive weather (Hamamatsu P3782-05) having a spectral response in the
recording equipment installed along the circuit route [3], range 5pm to 20pm. The detector is thermally
or incorporate temperature or tension monitors [4]. compensated against changes in ambient temperature.

The'detector can only measure the temperature when a

2. REMOTE TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT temperature change has taken place. The temperature of
the conductors changes too slowly for the detector to
The measurement of conductor temperature is clearly make a reading, therefore an optical chopper is required.
important to system operation and can aid in the use of An optical chopper was constructed using a dc motor and
dynamic ratings. To overcome difficulties with a plastic disk with a cut-out slot. The detector was
temperature measurements involving direct conductor positioned behind the disk so that, when rotated, the slot
contact, a remote temperature monitoring sensor is chopped the incident radiation. Although the exact speed
considered here using technology similarly used in is not critical, the disk was set to rotate at approximately
thermal imaging [5,6]. The temperature is measured by 10 Hz, a value that is consistent with the low rise time of
sensing the infra-red (IR) radiation from the conductor the detector output.
using an IR detector. The sensor is low cost, using
relatively inexpensive components which can be The field of view of the detector is 104" and so it is
mounted remote from the conductor, i.e. on the necessary to prevent the detector receiving radiation from
transmission tower, and therefore do not require h.v. any source other than the conductor. This was achieved
insulation. Additionally, it may not be necessary to by the use of a Fresnel lens which provides an equivalent
outage the line during installation or maintenance. window area of 0.5 m x 0.67 m at a distance of 6 m. The
Fresnel lens used had the advantage of being optimised
Operating range for IR radiation, very thin and easy to use, and cheap. An
The sensor is designed for use with ehv conductors. In outline of the constructed sensor is shown in figure 1.
the UK, the maximum steady-state rated temperature on
the majority of 400kV overhead conductors is Amplifier
approximately 125"C, although typical line temperatures The output voltage of the detector is small (< 1mV) and
are only 3OoC to 40°C. However, under immediate post- so amplification is required consisting of two cascaded
fault conditions, it is possible for the temperature to non-inverting low noise precision operational amplifiers.
exceed 125°C. The overall amplification gain is 120 and is band limited,

386
the lower frequency cut-off is set to 5 Hz to prevent the 400kV conductor is assumed by the National Grid
detector output dc offset voltage (measured at 0.8 V) Company to be 0.9 after 6 months.
being amplified. The upper cut-off frequency is set to 1
kHz - a figure that is a compromise between high
frequency noise rejection and good resolution of the 4. RESULTS
chopped detector output. All of the sensor electronics
were mounted in a screened enclosure.

Fresnel lens IR detector amplifier

conductor \ \ I
0.
0.
I 1- - motor -504 ^ ^ ~

50 mslDiu

Figure 2 Sensor Output Voltage Waveform

dowed disk The ac nature of the sensor output, due to the mechanical
chopping of the incident radiation, is shown in figure 2
- 6m under high output conditions (300°C soldering iron 25
mm from detector). During operation, when the chopper
is rotating, the detector is cyclically exposed to the
Figure 1 Outline of remote sensing device plastic disk and the target heat source in a ratio of
approximately 5:l. The positive and negative spikes of
Experimental Simulation figure 2 are indicative of the temperature difference
Although a 1 m section of 400 kV conductor was between the disk and the target. The negative to positive
available, no suitable method of heating the section to transition of the output represents the target to disk
150°C - either by ohmic heating or the use of a suitably transition. During the tests, the peak negative output of
large oven - could be used. To overcome this difficulty, the detector circuit was recorded using an oscilloscope.
a solid copper rod of similar size to the conductor was
heated using by using a propane blowtorch. The rod was Experience with the cooling characteristics of the copper
heated to 150°C and then the sensor was used to take rod showed the suitable resolution for measurements to
measurements during the cooling period. This procedure be 5°C intervals. Output voltage measurements were
was repeated several times at varying distances between taken at metre intervals from 1 to 6 metres and at 5°C
the sensor and the rod. intervals from 150°C down to 30°C. The temperature of
sử dụng thanh đồng thay cho dây dẫn 400kV the copper rod was recorded by the use of a
Using the copper rod in place of the 400kV conductor thermocouple. Figure 3 shows the output voltage versus
gave the worst case results. There are two reasons for temperature variation at a distance of 5m. It will be
this: apparent that the relationship between output voltage and
1) The copper rod is slightly smaller than the temperature is far from linear, although it is monotonic.
conductor, (028mm to 030” respectively). From
the simulation viewpoint it provides a worst case
scenario for the tests as the detector ‘sees’ a smaller
area than with an actual 400kV conductor. A 400kV
transmission system generally has four conductors
per phase to keep corona discharge to a minimum,
therefore, if the detector can measure temperature at
6 metres with a single copper rod, measurement on
an actual 400kV transmission system at 6 metres
should be more favourable.

2) The copper has a different emissivity when 30 40 50 W 70 So 90 IC0 110 120 130 140 150
compared to the 400kV conductor. After heating Temperature (‘C)
the copper with the blowtorch the surface would be
copper oxide, the emissivity of which is 0.57. This
gives a worst case result, as the emissivity of a Figure 3 Sensor Output Voltage at 5 m

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Hình 4 cho thấy sự thay đổi của điện áp đầu ra so với khoảng cách
trong một phạm vi nhiệt độ cố định. Có thể thấy rằng ở khoảng cách
lm, điện áp đầu ra thay đổi 80 mV trong phạm vi nhiệt độ hoạt động,
trong khi sự thay đổi điện áp động này giảm xuống 10 mV ở khoảng
cách 6 m.
tower that is of concern. It is therefore proposed to mount
the sensor at the same horizontal position as the lowest
Figure 4 shows the variation in output voltage against phase bundle, as shown in figure 5 for a standard UK 400
distance for a range of fixed temperatures. It can be seen kV tower.
that at a distance of l m the output voltage changes by 80
mV over the operating temperature range, whereas this
dynamic voltage change reduces to 10 mV at a distance
of 6 m.

Accuracy
The relationship shown by the plotted points in figure 3
was evident, in scaled form, at all distances. At 1 m, the
temperature measurement accuracy was better than
approximately 1"C. This accuracy decreased at greater
distances, since the reduced dynamic range of the sensor
output signal degraded the signal to noise ratio. At 6 m it
was not possible to accurately measure temperatures less
than 75°C since the signal to noise ratio was unity; at 7 m
no measurements were possible at all.
-&
The practicalities of converting between the output Approx.
voltage and the temperature must be considered. Using a
digital approach, involving sampling of the detector 5.5 m
output and a look-up table, this accuracy would be
maintained. However, an exponential curve-fit, as shown Figure 5 400 kV Transmission Tower
in figure 2, gives a maximum error of approximately 5%
- i.e. 7.5"C.
6. CONCLUSION

A sensor has been constructed capable of remotely

measuring the temperature of an overhead line conductor.
Laboratory tests show that accurate measurement is
possible over a distance of up to 5 m. The tests were
made with a single conductor having a lower emissivity
and smaller radius than is common on a 400 kV overhead
circuit. Furthermore, all UK 400 kV overhead circuits
use either twin or quad bundles per phase, implying that
the radiated energy is greater than that demonstrated in
the laboratory. Taking these points into consideration, it
0 - T should be possible for the sensor to work at the 5.5 m
1 2 3 4 5 6 distance required for a standard 400 kV tower.
Distance (m)

The sensor will be of use in the dynamic rating of lines

Figure 4 Sensor Output Voltage versus Distance for for gathering historical temperature data in the
five temperatures formulation of forecasts, and for testing the accuracy of
the embedded thermal models. Since the sensor only acts
as a spot measurement of temperature, it will be
5. MOUNTING ON TRANSMISSION TOWERS necessary to locate the sensor in a critical position where
the conductor temperature has a limiting influence on the
In field use, the sensors should be placed as close as overall line. Additionally, the sensor has a real-time use
possible to the overhead conductors to improve the signal in raising an alarm if the conductor temperature rises
to noise ratio. The minimum safety clearance distance above a safety value. Since the thermal time constant of a
relates to the closest distance between the conductors and conductor is -10 minutes, it would be necessary to
the tower metalwork. However, it would also be telemeter the measured temperature back to the control
advantageous for the sensors to be installed and room within this time scale.
maintained under live line conditions. Since the main
concern of conductor temperature relates to sag, it is only
the phase closest to earth on a (vertical) transmission

388
7. FURTHER WORK

The following issues need to be resolved before a field 9. REFERENCES

trial of the device can be staged:
DOUGLASS D A, et al, ‘Dynamic Thermal Ratings
Telemetry: The measured temperature needs to be Realise Circuit Load Limits’, IEEE Computer
conveyed to a central point. To maintain the ease of use, Applications in Power, pp 38 - 44, Vol 13, No 1,
this telemetry should be achieved via a wireless method January 2000.
such as a GSM mobile phone modem, or low power
radio. SEPPA T 0, ‘Accurate ampacity determination:
Power Supply: The use of batteries, or a fixed ac supply Temperature - Sag Model for Operational Real
will make the operation of the sensor impractical. Instead Time Ratings’, IEEE Trans on Power Delivery,
it is proposed to power the sensor parasitically from the Vol. 10, NO. 3, July 1995, pp 1460 - 1470.
local magnetic field using a Rogowski coil. Although the
sensor electronics are relatively low power, this is DOUGLASS D A and EDRIS A A, ‘Real-time
unlikely to be the case for the telemetry; careful monitoring and dynamic thermal rating of power
consideration will be needed for the design of the power transmission circuits’, IEEE Trans on Power
supply unit. Delivery, Vol 11, No 3, July 1996, pp 1407 - 1418.
Radiation Chopper: A mechanical chopper is likely to
fail after extended use: an entirely solid state design DOUGLASS D A and EDRIS A A, ‘Field studies
would be preferable. Further work is required to of dynamic thermal rating methods for overhead
investigate an electronic optical shutter. lines’, IEEE Transmission & Distribution
Precipitation: Careful attention is needed to ensure that Conference, Vols 1+2, Ch 148, 1999, pp 842-85 1.
the measured temperature is accurate under all
conditions. The presence of fog will absorb the IR MOORE P J and HARSCOET F, ‘Low Cost
radiation from the conductor, whereas the presence of Thermal Imaging for- Power Systems Applications
larger water droplets in the form of rain will also have a Using a Conventional CCD Camera’, EMPD ‘98.
scattering effect. It is important that the sensor is
compensated against these and other contingency BURNAY S G, WILLIAMS T L and JONES C H,
atmospheric conditions. (Eds), Applications of thermal imaging, Adam
Wind: Conductors can sway under high wind conditions. Hilger, 1988.
In view of the proposed sensor location (figure 5 ) ,
swaying will lead to a variation of the conductorlsensor
distance. Since conductor swaying is a relatively low 10. AUTHOR’S ADDRESS
frequency effect, it is likely that this effect can be
electronically compensated. The authors can be contacted at
Conductor Emissivity: The emissivity of a conductor
will change during its operation life. A method of Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering
measuring this effect by reflecting IR radiation of a University of Bath
known wavelength and magnitude is being considered. Claverton Down
Bath
BA2 7AY
8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UK

The authors would like to thank the Power and Energy

Systems Group in the Department of Electronic and
Electrical Engineering, University of Bath for the
provision of laboratory facilities. Thanks are also due to
Sven Hoffmann and Mike Tunstall of National Grid for
their help and interest in this work.

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